Friends of Socialist China, Author at Friends of Socialist China

Danny Haiphong: Who benefits from rising tensions in the South China Sea?

Tensions in the South China Sea flared again on 20 July, when a Philippine Navy vessel illegally grounded at China’s Ren’ai Jiao sparked a confrontation with the China Coast Guard, followed three days later by the Coast Guard driving away two Philippine vessels near Huangyan Dao. In the following article, Friends of Socialist China co-founder Danny Haiphong – a US independent journalist and researcher specialising in US foreign policy and geopolitics – asks who actually benefits from the escalation.

His answer is that these clashes did not emerge in a vacuum. They came against the backdrop of the tenth anniversary of the 2016 South China Sea arbitration ruling, marked by a joint statement from the US, Japan, the Philippines and eleven other countries – a ruling China regards as illegal and void, and one advanced most energetically by a United States that is not itself a signatory to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Philippines may have been the nominal filer, but Washington supplied the logistical, diplomatic and legal muscle.

Danny sets out the scale of the militarisation involved: 1,200 US reconnaissance missions over the South China Sea in 2025, nine carrier strike group deployments, and large-scale exercises led by the US, Japan and the Philippines. The Marcos administration, he argues, has badly miscalculated in believing that deeper military integration with Washington gives it leverage over Beijing; the reality is that the Philippines is being positioned as a staging ground for someone else’s war. As he puts it, paraphrasing Kissinger, to be an enemy of the US may be dangerous – but to be a friend of the US is fatal.

Chinese ambassador calls for UK and China to cooperate on AI

Chinese Ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang recently contributed an article to the Guardian newspaper calling for the two countries to cooperate on AI. He begins by noting that: “Like the steam engine, the harnessing of electricity and the internet before it, it has the potential to transform how we work, live and interact.

“But every technological revolution brings challenges as well as opportunities. As AI systems become more capable, people are asking legitimate questions. How can AI remain safe, accountable and under human control? How should its development be governed? How can its benefits be shared more widely?”

He adds: “These questions were at the heart of the 2026 World AI Conference, held… [recently] in Shanghai.”

Keeping the main focus on the Global South he notes that China will develop international AI-application cooperation centres with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the League of Arab States, the African Union, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and its fellow BRICS countries.

But that does mean there is not ample space and opportunities for China-UK collaboration:

“China and the UK have much to gain from working together. The UK has a competitive edge in frontier research, life sciences, financial services and AI innovation… In healthcare, combining British strengths in biomedical research with China’s capacity to deploy AI at scale can accelerate drug discovery, improve medical imaging and enhance healthcare delivery… Policymakers, researchers and business leaders from China and the UK need to increase exchanges and translate dialogue into joint research, commercial partnerships and closer cooperation on AI governance.”

The pushback against the US militarisation of East Asia

When US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told Washington’s Asian allies at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that they should be spending 3.5 percent of their GDP on defence – quipping “more ships, less Shangri-La” – he was calling for a regional arms build-up unmatched since the end of the Cold War. In the following article, Mike Martin, a member of Scottish CND’s trade union network, surveys the opposition to that project across East Asia and Australasia.

The contradiction he identifies is a sharp one. Since the Cold War, south-east Asia has pivoted from military readiness to commerce and investment, deepened through ASEAN and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, becoming a global manufacturing hub in the process. China sits at the centre of those supply chains and is the leading trade partner of most countries in the region. Yet the states most deeply integrated into China’s economic dynamism are simultaneously being drawn into military structures designed to confront it – new missile systems, bases, naval patrols in contested waters, and military budgets that soar as social budgets stagnate.

Mike’s survey is a valuable corrective to the impression, common in the Western media, that the region is uniformly lining up behind Washington. From the campaign against AUKUS in Australia and Japan’s largest anti-war mobilisations in decades in defence of Article 9, to the peace coalitions of South Korea, the debate over an independent foreign policy in the Philippines, and the overwhelming majority in Taiwan province who reject both independence and confrontation, he documents the countervailing social forces at work. The task, he concludes, is to build the largest possible global majority for peace.

British Steel or British Steal?

In July, the British government completed the full nationalisation of British Steel – a move welcomed by the country’s trade unions, and one socialists have no reason to oppose in principle. But as Carlos Martinez argues in the following article, what took place was not simply the homecoming of a strategic industry. It was the expropriation of the Chinese firm that Britain itself invited in to rescue that industry six years ago, and which invested upwards of £1.2 billion doing so.

Comparing the treatment of Jingye Group with the £500 million subsidy handed to India’s Tata Steel for an almost identical transition at Port Talbot, he argues that this is a story about China rather than about steel – part of a wider pattern that takes in the seizure of Nexperia in the Netherlands, the forced sale of TikTok in the United States and the blocking of Chinese rare-earth investment in Australia. Nationalisation, he concludes, need not be reversed; it needs to be completed honestly, with prompt and adequate compensation, and with China engaged as the obvious partner for the green transformation Scunthorpe needs.

China-Africa solidarity and cooperation in action

China’s Xinhua News Agency has recently published a number of articles outlining some of the practical ways in which China has been contributing to development and improving people’s livelihood across the countries of southern and central Africa, drawing appreciation from the presidents of Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the vice presidents of Tanzania and Uganda, as well as building on the success of the Namibian president’s recent state visit to China.

Mozambique

On August 3, a groundbreaking ceremony for the China-aided National Surgical Centre Project was held in the Mozambican capital Maputo. The complex will be built within Maputo Central Hospital and will include a surgical centre building and two utility buildings, with a total floor area of more than 20,000 square metres. The eight-storey facility will also house emergency and trauma services, a medical imaging department, a pharmacy, laboratories, 14 operating rooms, a 19-bed intensive care unit and 456 inpatient beds.

Addressing the ceremony, Mozambican President Daniel Chapo said the groundbreaking marked the beginning of a new stage in Mozambique’s capacity to save lives and treat complex diseases, enabling more Mozambicans to access specialised medical care within their own country.

Describing Mozambique and China as brotherly countries, Chapo said the Mozambican government hopes to work with the Chinese government to end the need for Mozambicans to travel abroad in search of better medical treatment.

A feature published by Xinhua on July 28 highlighted the 50th anniversary of cooperation between China and Mozambique in the field of health care.

On April 15, 1976, the first batch of 29 Chinese medical experts arrived in Mozambique, planting the seed for an enduring partnership that has since blossomed beyond clinical care to include medical training, technology transfer, emergency response, and healthcare infrastructure development.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Mozambican Minister of Health Ussene Isse said that bilateral health cooperation has achieved positive results over the past five decades. The dispatch of Chinese medical teams, in his eyes, is “not merely a medical cooperation project, but a history of solidarity and a partnership that has remained steadfast across generations despite changes in the international environment.”

Over the past 50 years, China has sent 383 medical professionals in 26 teams to Mozambique, where they have treated approximately 1.4 million patients.

Apart from providing medical services, Isse noted that Chinese medical teams have helped build local capacity by training Mozambican healthcare professionals in fields including surgery, anesthesiology, and traditional Chinese medicine, while introducing advanced technologies such as telemedicine and laparoscopic surgery at Maputo Central Hospital.

South Africa

On July 31, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa hailed growing China-South Africa cooperation in clean energy, saying the participation of Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Goldwind in the Ummbila Emoyeni Wind Farm project demonstrates how bilateral partnerships are supporting the country’s just energy transition.

Addressing the launch of commercial operations of the 155-megawatt (MW) wind farm in Mpumalanga Province, Ramaphosa said South Africa welcomes Chinese companies’ participation in the country’s renewable energy development.

He added that South Africa’s future energy mix will combine coal, wind, hydropower, nuclear, solar, gas and other emerging technologies to ensure energy security while advancing decarbonisation. “South Africa’s future energy system will draw on the strengths and resources we already possess while embracing new opportunities.”

Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Wu Peng said: “It has been proven in practice that Chinese enterprises are not merely visitors from afar, but partners deeply rooted in South Africa. More and more Chinese enterprises are contributing to South Africa’s development.”

Zimbabwe

On the same day, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa hailed Chinese investment in lithium processing as key to maximising the value of the country’s mineral resources.

In a speech read on his behalf by Vice President Constantino Chiwenga at the opening of the Mining, Engineering and Transport Expo in Bulawayo, Mnangagwa commended China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt for building Zimbabwe’s first lithium sulphate plant in Goromonzi, Mashonaland East Province. He also praised other Chinese-invested companies for pushing lithium beneficiation, including Sinomine’s subsidiary Bikita Minerals, which is also building a lithium sulphate plant in Bikita, Masvingo Province.

“Once set up, the plants will result in Zimbabwe being the only nation in Africa to host multiple lithium-processing operations,” Mnangagwa said. Zimbabwe had long derived limited benefits from supplying raw minerals to global markets, but “that narrative is changing”.

Zimbabwe, Africa’s major lithium producer, has seen significant investment in its lithium sector in recent years due to growing global demand for the mineral, which is critical to the global energy transition.

On July 23, it was announced that Zimbabwe has officially joined the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB), which will unlock crucial credit and funding opportunities for the country.

Established in 2014 by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the NDB officially began operations in 2015, with a mission to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS member nations and other emerging-market economies and developing countries. Zimbabwe applied to join the bank in 2023, with formal accession negotiations progressing earlier this year. The country has also formally applied to join the BRICS group.

And on July 24, the Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe hosted a reception to celebrate the 99th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Zhou Ding said the profound friendship between China and Zimbabwe was forged in the national liberation struggle, giving rise to strong revolutionary bonds between the two countries. He noted that a Zimbabwean veterans’ delegation recently visited China to retrace their revolutionary steps, further consolidating the ties between the two nations.

Commander General of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) Emmanuel Matatu expressed his congratulations on the PLA’s 99th anniversary. He noted the coincidence that both militaries celebrate their milestones in August — the PLA marks its 99th anniversary on August 1, while the ZDF celebrates its 46th anniversary on August 11. Matatu also expressed gratitude for China’s unwavering support since the liberation war. “For the ZDF, the PLA has always been a reliable partner in our development,” he said, adding that the ZDF looks forward to further nurturing and cherishing this all-weather relationship for generations to come.

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

On July 29, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Felix Tshisekedi inaugurated a Chinese-built water treatment plant in Kamina, capital of the southern province of Haut-Lomami.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, DRC Minister of Hydraulic Resources and Electricity Aime Sakombi Molendo said the project would help improve living and public health conditions for local residents and would bolster the country’s drinking water treatment capacity.

The project was financed by Sino Congolaise des Mines, a joint venture between the DRC state mining company Gecamines and a group of Chinese companies.

Underlining the importance of such projects, it was reported in the same week that more than 400 million Africans still lack access to basic drinking water, while over 700 million people across the continent remain without safely managed sanitation.

On August 1, China’s third medical expert team for Ebola response arrived in Kinshasa, capital of the DRC, to support the country’s efforts to strengthen its defences against the epidemic.

Luku Maleyo Marius, a representative of the DRC health ministry, welcomed the team at the airport. He said the Ebola situation in the DRC remained severe and response efforts continued to face considerable pressure. The arrival of the Chinese experts would provide strong support for epidemic surveillance, patient treatment and laboratory testing.

On August 4, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson in Beijing said that with the Ebola outbreak still spreading, China will continue to assist African countries and provide the support needed to bring an early end to the outbreak.

The third medical expert team is composed of experts in epidemiology, health quarantine, clinical treatment, and pathogen laboratory testing. Building on the work of the previous teams, it will continue to strengthen exchanges and coordination with the DRC and international organisations in light of the needs of epidemic prevention and control.

Namibia

On July 29, Chinese Ambassador to Namibia Zhao Weiping said at a press briefing that China will work with Namibia to translate the outcomes of President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s recent state visit to China into concrete cooperation.

During the July 5-11 visit, the two countries elevated their relations to a China-Namibia community with a shared future for the new era and signed eight cooperation agreements.

Zhao noted that youth empowerment was given particular emphasis. Agricultural cooperation, which could help Namibia translate improved market access into export growth, was another major outcome. Cooperation will also extend to healthcare, including medical personnel training, disease control and emergency response, as well as the exploration of pharmaceutical production in Namibia.

Tanzania

On July 26, Tanzanian Vice President Emmanuel Nchimbi commended China Railway Construction Engineering Group (CRCEG) for the significant progress made in building the Arusha Stadium, a key venue for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

During an inspection visit, Nchimbi praised both the quality of work and the pace of implementation, noting that the project has reached 88 percent completion and is on track for delivery by the end of August 2026.

AFCON 2027 will be jointly hosted by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, marking the first time East African nations will co-host Africa’s premier football tournament.

Uganda

On July 23, Ugandan Vice President Jessica Alupo hailed the China-Uganda Agricultural Cooperation Industrial Park as a key driver of the country’s agricultural transformation through agro-processing.

Alupo made the remarks while leading a delegation of senior government officials on an assessment tour of the industrial park in the central Ugandan district of Luwero. She commended the FAO [UN Food and Agricultural Organisation]-China-Uganda South-South Cooperation initiative, under which the Chinese private sector-led industrial park was established, saying that it has enabled Uganda to process agricultural products for export to the world. Uganda stands to benefit further from China’s continued high-standard opening-up and its zero-tariff policy for eligible exports.

Luo Heng, chairman of Kehong Uganda Industrial Development Limited, the Chinese company managing the industrial park, said it plans to invest 500 million US dollars over the next five years as part of its second phase of development.

Gansu: from “uninhabitable” to flourishing – China’s poverty alleviation in theory and practice

In July 2026 Friends of Socialist China was invited by the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC) to send a delegate to attend a conference in Yinchuan in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (in north west China), on the topic of ‘Path to Modernisation: Takeaways from China’s Theory and Practice of Poverty Alleviation’. Political representatives, alongside members of think tanks, NGOs, and international media from more than 55 countries attended the conference and related field visits in areas around China, to study the historic achievements of the poverty alleviation programmes and consider what lessons could be learned for application in other parts of the world.

David Peat, Secretary of Friends of Socialist China Britain Committee, recounts his experiences in several articles, and highlights how the Communist Party of China (CPC) sees ongoing poverty alleviation efforts as a revolutionary practice for the New Era, and a continuation of the resoluteness and commitment that was evident from its earliest days, including through the struggles of the ‘Long March’, whose 90th anniversary is celebrated this year.

Wham! – Musical icebreakers in 1985 China

Keith Bennett finds a new documentary film on the first western pop group to perform in the People’s Republic to be a warm, touching and entertaining depiction of a moment in history.

Wham! 10 Days in China, a documentary film with much contemporary footage which went on general release in the UK on July 28, records the extraordinary story of the duo’s 1985 visit, when they became the first western pop group to perform in China, with concerts in Beijing and Guangzhou.

For some of us, the film is a vivid reminder of how China looked at that time. George Michael, then 21, and Andrew Ridgeley, then 22, were true icebreakers. China was still in the relatively early stage of reform and opening up and was very much, in Deng Xiaoping’s words, “crossing the river by feeling the stones”. Although living standards were rising, we were still some way away from the subsequent Chinese economic miracle. However, people’s expectations were definitely rising and with it their eagerness to embrace the outside world (and not without a whole range of misconceptions and naïve expectations) and to experience new things. As others have already noted, in reviews of the film and of course elsewhere, China was a country and a society on the cusp of great change – a change that has in turn profoundly altered the whole course of global development in the twenty-first century in ways that could not reasonably have been envisaged 40 years ago. It is actually extraordinary that these two young men played a modest but very real part in making this happen – in icebreaking and in inventing the future.

According to the film, becoming the first western pop group ever to be invited to perform in the People’s Republic was conceived as just a smart way of making it in the United States. That’s as maybe, but they still had to be prepared to make that leap and take that chance – something that might be seen as a rare moment of real insight on the part of the band’s cynical and manipulative manager. It also necessitated patient and protracted negotiations, something that would be all too familiar to anyone involved in similar work at the time. The art curator James Birch provides a vivid account of what it took to secure the first British contemporary art exhibition in Beijing and Shanghai a few years later in his Gilbert and George and the Communists.

Using China as the gateway to the USA might appear to have been counterintuitive but it showed that there was great interest in and fascination with China in the country at that time, albeit for very different reasons on the part of different sections of the population. As we have previously noted, today’s is not the first iteration of ‘Chinamaxxing’.

‘But at what cost?’: the Yangtze edition

The Economist has reported a striking piece of good news: fish biomass in the Yangtze has risen by more than 200 percent since 2021, reversing seven decades of decline, with a rare sturgeon spawning in the wild for the first time in two decades and finless porpoise numbers climbing again. The turnaround – confirmed by a peer-reviewed study – followed the largest freshwater fishing moratorium ever attempted, the closure of thousands of chemical factories, mass reforestation, and the compensation and retraining of some 200,000 fishermen.

Yet, as the following article argues, the magazine could not resist straining to make an ecological triumph sound sinister – branding China’s approach “eco-authoritarian”. It is the “but at what cost” genre in its purest form: the reflex of a worldview that cannot survive the admission that a socialist country is surpassing the West on both ecological and economic performance.

The Economist has reported a remarkable and very welcome piece of news. Fish biomass in the Yangtze has risen by more than 200 percent since 2021, reversing seven decades of decline. A rare sturgeon has been observed spawning in the wild for the first time in twenty years. Finless porpoise numbers are up from a low of around 1,000 in 2017 to more than 1,400. And this is not Chinese state media talking: it comes from a study, published in the journal Science, by researchers in China, Canada, the United States and France.

How was it done? Through a ten-year commercial fishing ban across the river, its major tributaries and the lakes of its basin – the largest freshwater fishing moratorium ever attempted. Thousands of chemical factories were closed or relocated. Forests were planted on the upper reaches to hold the soil. Cities were “spongified” with artificial wetlands and permeable surfaces to absorb rainfall and filter stormwater. And some 200,000 fishermen were taken off the water, compensated and retrained for other work. A river that was being killed is coming back to life.

The Yangtze programme is one component of China’s ecological civilisation strategy – written into the country’s constitution in 2018 and pursued through the same instruments that have sustained China’s economy: long-term planning, massive public investment, and a state with the capacity to override short-term private interest in the name of a collective good. It is the same capacity that has made China the world’s undisputed leader in renewable energy, reforestation and electric transport.

China at UN: The Palestinian question remains at the core of the Middle East issue

China has again spoken out at the United Nations in support of the rights of the Palestinian people.

Addressing an open date at the UN Security Council on July 28, Ambassador Sun Lei said that: “The Palestinian question remains at the core of the Middle East issue and must not be ignored or marginalised. Only by achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Palestinian question can the vicious cycle of recurring conflict in the Middle East be broken and the dawn of peace truly emerge.”

He went on to make three points:

The suffering of civilians cannot continue, and peace and stability in Gaza must be restored. More than nine months have passed since the Gaza ceasefire agreement was reached, yet bombings, attacks, blockades and sieges have not ceased, and more than two million people remain unable to escape the threats of death and displacement. We call on Israel and the relevant parties to fully implement the ceasefire agreement and achieve a genuine and lasting ceasefire in Gaza. Israel must fulfill its obligations under international humanitarian law.

The international rule of law must not be undermined, and tensions in the West Bank must be brought under control. Settler violence in the West Bank is appalling, causing heavy civilian casualties and widespread destruction of homes. The occupying power continues to accelerate settlement expansion and encroach upon Palestinian territory. International law and Security Council resolution 2334 must be observed. Double standards and selective application are unacceptable. We urge Israel to immediately cease all settlement activities, take concrete measures to curb violence, and ensure serious accountability for all attacks.

Fairness and justice must not be absent, and the two-State solution must be implemented. Israel achieved statehood long ago, while the State of Palestine remains far from reality. Any arrangement or new mechanism must adhere to the principle of “the Palestinians governing Palestine,” [and] respect the will of the Palestinian people. China supports the early establishment of an independent State of Palestine based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital and enjoying full sovereignty.

Sun further touched briefly on the situation in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, as well as on matters related to Lebanon and Syria, and concluded:

“The Middle East belongs to the people of the Middle East. It should not become an arena for great-power rivalry or a victim of geopolitical competition. China will continue to act in the spirit of President Xi Jinping’s four-point proposal on promoting peace and stability in the Middle East, work with the international community to advance political solutions to hotspot issues in the region, support regional countries in pursuing independence, rebuilding mutual trust, and building a new regional security architecture suited to evolving realities, so as to achieve lasting peace and stability in the Middle East.”

The following is the full text of his speech. It was originally published on the website of China’s Permanent Mission to the UN.

Remarks by Ambassador Sun Lei, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations, at the UN Security Council Open Debate on the Situation in the Middle East

July 28 (China’s Permanent Mission to the UN) – Madam President,

I thank Deputy Special Coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov for his briefing.

Nobody’s backyard: New Solomon Islands government reaffirms friendship and cooperation with China

Since a new government assumed office in Solomon Islands on May 15, following the passing of a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in the former administration a week previously, the small South Pacific island nation has come under intensive pressure from imperialist powers, especially the United States, echoed and sometimes amplified by its “deputy sheriff” (as a former prime minister once proudly described it) Australia, to reverse its friendly relations with China and support for the one-China principle.

Such bullying antics appear to have been given a fitting riposte by a July visit to Beijing by the country’s new Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade Rick Houenipwela.

Meeting with Houenipwela on July 14, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi congratulated the new government of Solomon Islands on taking office, stating that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Solomon Islands in 2019, bilateral relations have maintained strong development, and bilateral cooperation has achieved tangible results in various fields and brought benefits to the people. Facts have proven that the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Solomon Islands serves the interests of both peoples, aligns with the prevailing trend of the times, and stands on the right side of history. He added that that China appreciates the new Solomon Islands government’s reaffirmation of its firm commitment to the one-China principle.

China, Wang continued, will always support Solomon Islands in safeguarding its national sovereignty, independence, and legitimate rights and interests, as well as in pursuing a development path of its own choosing. China’s cooperation with Solomon Islands comes with no political strings attached, is not forcibly imposed, and makes no empty promises. China is willing to strengthen the alignment of development strategies with Solomon Islands, advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, expand practical cooperation in areas such as green energy, deepen people-to-people exchanges in education, healthcare, and youth, enhance multilateral coordination, safeguard international fairness and justice, and jointly address global challenges such as climate change.

In words that unmistakably and firmly refute the specious charges levelled against China, as well as the chauvinistic and racist bullying and belittling of the South Pacific island nations, by the United States, Australia, and increasingly New Zealand since that country’s Labour Party left office, Wang reiterated that China’s development of relations with Pacific island countries is aimed at strengthening South-South cooperation and promoting common development. It carries no geopolitical intention, seeks no so-called “spheres of influence”, and should not be disrupted by any third party. Pacific island countries are sovereign and independent states, not anyone’s “backyard”, and have the right to independently choose their development partners.

Rick Houenipwela stated that Solomon Islands attaches great importance to its relations with China and expresses gratitude to China for its long-term and positive assistance to the economic and social development of his country. Solomon Islands is firmly committed to the one-China principle. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, and the government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, as decided by the UNGA Resolution 2758. China’s remarkable achievements have been forged through the hard work of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. China’s development has benefited the world, particularly developing countries like Solomon Islands.

He added that Solomon Islands looks forward to expanding trade and investment with China and deepening bilateral practical cooperation in fields such as education, infrastructure, medical and healthcare services, and green development, thereby elevating Solomon Islands-China relations to a higher level. China’s contributions to world peace and development deserve to be remembered, and China’s experience is worthy of study and reference by Solomon Islands and other Pacific island countries. Solomon Islands supports the vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity and the four major global initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping and will continue to step up coordination and cooperation with China within multilateral organisations such as the UN and WTO, so as to jointly safeguard the common interests of developing countries.

Wang Yi holds intensive round of bilateral meetings in Manila

During his recent visit to the Philippines’ capital Manila, to attend the China-ASEAN [Association of South East Asian Nations] Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held meetings between July 21-23 with a broad range of his counterparts who were also in Manila for a series of meetings with the ASEAN countries.

On July 21, Wang met with the Secretary-General of ASEAN as well as with his counterparts from Malaysia, Canada and Australia.

Meeting with Secretary-General of ASEAN Kao Kim Hourn, Wang Yi noted that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC). China was the first major country to accede to the TAC, which encouraged other major countries to follow suit and significantly enhanced ASEAN’s international standing. China will continue to support ASEAN community building and ASEAN’s efforts in seeking strength through unity.

He added that the South China Sea is the common home of regional countries, and the South China Sea issue should not become an obstacle in China-ASEAN relations. Certain elements within the Philippine military and police forces have made deliberate provocations and created maritime incidents, serving the interests of external forces and undermining the improvement of China-Philippines relations as well as peace and stability in the South China Sea. Regional countries must remain on high alert against this.

Kao Kim Hourn recalled that the two sides have established 65 cooperation mechanisms. The ASEAN-China Free Trade Area has been upgraded, and bilateral trade exceeded one trillion US dollars last year. He added that next year marks the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). ASEAN supports the dual-track approach and is committed to accelerating consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, so as to make the South China Sea a sea of peace, cooperation and friendship. ASEAN is ready to work with China to jointly maintain regional peace and stability and make important contributions to the development and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific.

Meeting with Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan, Wang Yi noted that last year, President Xi Jinping paid a successful state visit to Malaysia, during which the two sides announced the building of a high-level strategic China-Malaysia community with a shared future, ushering in a new ‘Golden 50 Years’ of bilateral relations. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of dialogue relations between China and ASEAN and the fifth anniversary of the comprehensive strategic partnership. ASEAN is an important component of the multipolar landscape and a key force of the Global South. China expects Malaysia to play its role well as the Country Coordinator for China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations, safeguard the common interests of China and ASEAN, and uphold peace and stability in East Asia. China is ready to strengthen communication and coordination with Malaysia, so as to keep China-ASEAN relations at the forefront of the times and set an example for Global South countries in pursuing strength through unity.

Mohamad Hasan stated that China is a trusted friend and partner of Malaysia and also Malaysia’s largest trading partner. Malaysia cherishes the traditional friendship between the two countries, firmly adheres to the one-China policy, and is ready to deepen practical cooperation with China in areas such as digital technology and artificial intelligence. Some countries outside the region have nothing to do with the South China Sea, yet they always want to flex military muscles there. Malaysia looks forward to the early conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea and to jointly maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea.

Meeting with Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand, Wang Yi noted that since the beginning of this year, China-Canada relations have continued to improve, with increasingly close exchanges at all levels and fruitful cooperation across various fields. In the first half of this year, bilateral trade volume grew by 16 percent year-on-year, with Canadian exports to China increasing by 23.3 percent. Facts have proven that the improvement and growth of China-Canada relations serve the common interests of both countries, are welcomed by the two peoples, and represent the right choice in line with the trend of history.

Why the Western left misreads China: capitalism, imperialism, and the socialist difference

In the following article, Karim Pourhamzavi – an Iranian lecturer specialising in global political economy and West Asian and North African politics at Beijing Foreign Studies University – takes aim at a strand of Western left thinking that treats Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and US capitalism as equivalent. Drawing on the history of capitalism, imperialism and uneven development, he argues that there is no equivalence in power between imperialism and its victims, even when the victim is a rising power like China.

Because the commanding heights of China’s economy remain in public ownership and its socialist state answers to the people rather than to the market, he contends, China is structurally incapable of the imperialism that has defined the West for five centuries – which is why, for the Global South, China’s rise represents the most constructive development since the birth of capitalism.

I recently attended a conference on the critique of global capitalism and possible global reordering in a renowned European city. My paper focused on critiquing imperialism and its expansion in West Asia. However, several presentations from European and North American scholars were unnecessarily and inaccurately Sinophobic in sentiment. Their thesis was astonishingly simplistic: capitalism is just capitalism, whether practiced by the United States or China. Therefore, they believed both are equally exploitative and destructive. This thesis suffers from both epistemological and empirical flaws. Such Sinophobic interpretations, coming from significant sections of the Western left, appear to abandon their emancipatory methodologies aimed at “changing” the world for the better, instead losing themselves in a positivist interpretation of the world. Yet there is no equivalence in power relations – or even sameness – between imperialism and its victims, even when the victim is a rising power like China.

Capitalism is not a universal condition

The aforementioned claims came from scholars in a city whose infrastructure is at least fifty years behind that of Beijing, where I live. These scholars have often never visited China, nor do they intend to, and they possess an ahistorical understanding of the Chinese political economy. Understanding socialism with Chinese characteristics requires revisiting the very term “capitalism.” Capitalism strictly refers to a political-economic system that emerged in Western Europe and expanded by imperial means to the Americas – precisely from 1492 onward. By the early 20th century, some 85 percent of the world’s land surface was under the colonial or semi-colonial domination of the Western powers and Japan. Therefore, China, like the rest of what we now understand as the Global South, was forcibly incorporated into global capitalism – compelled to cope with the enforced uneven development resulting from this historical process and to clean up the mess it left behind, a legacy that persists to this day.

Therefore, China’s modern history is not one experienced by the developed capitalist nations. Nor, at the philosophical and developmental planning levels, does revolutionary China share similarities with the core of capitalism or with those unevenly developed states that unsuccessfully tried to copy them as a way out of their underdevelopment. The first three hundred years of capitalist plundering in the world were based on a mercantilist political economy. This system sought to take everything from conquered nations and leave them nothing, while maintaining a balance of power among European rivals. It was centuries of plundering that enabled the Industrial Revolution – first in England, and then across the rest of Western Europe.

The World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation is tailor-made for the Global South

The 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference was held from July 17-20 in Shanghai, featuring a keynote speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping and the formation of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (WAICO), a new intergovernmental body headquartered in the city, with 29 founding members.

Between July 16-18, President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held bilateral meetings with high level guests attending the conference along with the concurrent High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance.

On the afternoon of July 16, President Xi Jinping met with the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

President Xi noted that, in a world undergoing profound and complex changes unseen in a century, the China-Kazakhstan relationship has stood the test of time and grown ever stronger. The permanent comprehensive strategic partnership has maintained excellent development and demonstrated huge cooperation potential and broad prospects. He emphasised that steadily advancing bilateral cooperation across the board serves the fundamental interests of the two countries and two peoples. China will work with Kazakhstan to implement the four global initiatives and enhance coordination and collaboration in multilateral mechanisms including the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and the China-Central Asia mechanism to jointly uphold international fairness and justice.

President Tokayev extended warm congratulations on the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and commended China for its remarkable development achievements under the wise leadership of President Xi. Kazakhstan views its relations with China as a top foreign policy priority and is committed to continuously strengthening the permanent comprehensive strategic partnership with China. Kazakhstan is in complete agreement with President Xi’s important observations on the bilateral relations and will make vigorous efforts with China to translate them into action.

The next day Xi met with Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Manet.

President Xi stated that having stood in solidarity and supported each other throughout the years, China and Cambodia have forged an ironclad friendship that has stood the test of time and weathered storms. History has proven that the China-Cambodia friendship is not built on any single occasion or particular issue. Rather, it is rooted in a consensus that transcends the evolving international landscape and has been passed down through generations. It is a precious asset shared by both sides. He emphasised that in the great endeavours of governing and strengthening the Party, the Communist Party of China has formed the thought on party building for the new era, which will continue to galvanise the mighty force driving Chinese modernisation. As this year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Cambodian People’s Party, China stands ready to strengthen experience sharing with the Cambodian side on party building and state governance.

China-ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Manila

The China-ASEAN [Association of South East Asian Nations] Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was held in the Philippines’ capital Manila on July 22, as part of a series of bilateral and regional dialogues hosted by the 11-member grouping.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi co-chaired the meeting with Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamad bin Haji Hasan, with Malaysia serving as the Country Coordinator for China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations.

Wang Yi noted that this year marks the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Under the joint strategic guidance of leaders of the two sides, China-ASEAN cooperation has been at the forefront, moved forward steadily and rapidly, and yielded fruitful outcomes, benefiting more than two billion people on both sides. The foundation for building an even closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future has become more solid.

China is ready to work with ASEAN to uphold the principles of peace, development and win-win cooperation, bring more benefits to people of regional countries through closer cooperation, and respond to emerging challenges and uncertainties with stronger solidarity.

Wang put forward four suggestions:

To uphold an environment of peace and development in the region. The two sides should promote the Asian values of peace, cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, resolutely oppose unreasonable external interference, reject the formation of exclusive ‘small circles’, resist attempts to incite bloc confrontation, and never allow the revival of militarism.

To make regional development more resilient. The two sides should uphold open cooperation and deepen the integration of development, develop the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0, pursue high-quality implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and strengthen regional food security, energy security and supply chain stability.

To pursue innovation-driven and green development. The two sides need to expand cooperation in such areas as climate change response, clean energy, green agriculture and the blue economy.

To uphold a people-centred approach. The two sides should promote inclusive and universally beneficial development, so that the outcomes of China-ASEAN cooperation can be tangible and accessible and better benefit the people of all countries. China is ready to enhance exchanges and cooperation with ASEAN in such areas as poverty reduction, public health, education, youth, think tanks, tourism, media and culture.

Wang Yi also expounded on China’s principled position on the South China Sea issue and said that the South China Sea is our shared home. China and ASEAN countries have the wisdom and capability to continue handling the South China Sea issue properly and make peace, stability, cooperation and friendship the mainstream narrative of the South China Sea. Regional countries should reject attempts by external forces to fan the flames, oppose certain countries’ moves to stir up trouble by taking advantage of maritime issues, and keep the initiative over peace and stability in the South China Sea firmly in our own hands.

All sides expressed their expectation for the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea within this year, so as to jointly maintain peace and stability. They also expressed readiness to work with China to uphold multilateralism, address global challenges, and make ASEAN-China relations a stabilising force for regional peace and development and a model for dialogue partnerships.

Wang Yi also briefed participants on the fruitful cooperation outcomes of the China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership over the past five years:

Progress in building a neighbourhood community with a shared future has deepened and solidified. China has reached important consensus with eight ASEAN member states on jointly building bilateral shared communities.

Trade volume has maintained steady growth. The ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) 3.0 Upgrade Protocol has been formally signed. China and ASEAN have remained each other’s largest trading partners for six consecutive years.

China and ASEAN have pulled together to tide over difficulties. When Myanmar was hit by a powerful earthquake and an earthquake struck Mindanao of the Philippines, China rushed to provide assistance without delay, embodying the fine tradition of mutual support between China and ASEAN countries.

People-to-people exchanges have become more vibrant. China has specially introduced the ‘ASEAN Visa’ scheme to facilitate and boost cross-border people flows, making the people-to-people bonds linking both sides ever closer.

Wang Yi also held numerous bilateral meetings with his counterparts from various parts of the world during his stay in Manila.

Wang Yi meets counterparts in Kyrgyzstan

During his recent visit to Kyrgyzstan, where he attended the foreign ministers meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also met with the country’s president as well as his counterparts from various other SCO member states.

Wang Yi met with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov on July 24, who asked him to convey his sincere greetings to President Xi Jinping and extended warm congratulations on the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC). He stated that under the leadership of the CPC, the Chinese people have made remarkable achievements in socialist modernisation, which the Kyrgyz side sincerely admires. A good neighbour is more valuable than gold. Developing relations with China remains a priority of Kyrgyzstan’s foreign policy. Kyrgyzstan and China are fellow travellers in pursuing development and prosperity as well as natural partners. The Kyrgyz side cherishes the strategic partnership featuring mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and good-neighbourliness, and is ready to learn from China’s experience in governance, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in such fields as economy, trade, investment, agriculture and people-to-people exchanges, vigorously advance key projects including the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, provide a sound business environment for Chinese enterprises operating in Kyrgyzstan, and safeguard their lawful rights and interests. Kyrgyzstan has joined the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation and the International Organisation for Mediation, demonstrating through concrete actions its support for the four major global initiatives proposed by China.

Wang Yi said that China is ready to strengthen the alignment of development strategies with Kyrgyzstan, translate the important consensus reached by the two heads of state into more tangible outcomes, elevate mutually beneficial cooperation, expand people-to-people exchanges, and consolidate the foundation of the China-Kyrgyzstan community with a shared future. China congratulates Kyrgyzstan on its election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council by a large majority and looks forward to strengthening coordination and cooperation with Kyrgyzstan on UN affairs. China will support Kyrgyzstan in successfully hosting the Bishkek Summit of the SCO [to be held August 31-September 1] and making greater contributions to promoting world peace, development and prosperity.

The next day, Wang held talks with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev during which he congratulated Kyrgyzstan on successfully hosting the Meeting of the Council of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Member States, saying it had laid a solid foundation for the Bishkek Summit of the SCO. China, he said, will always be a trustworthy good neighbour to Kyrgyzstan. In recent years, under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Sadyr Japarov, China and Kyrgyzstan have established a comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era in the spirit of solidarity and mutual benefit and are working together to build a China-Kyrgyzstan community with a shared future featuring good-neighbourliness, friendship, and shared prosperity. The two heads of state met three times last year, charting the course for the development of bilateral relations and injecting strong momentum into deepening all-round mutually beneficial cooperation.

He added that the two countries enjoy broad prospects for aligning their development strategies and jointly pursuing development and revitalisation. At the next stage, the two sides should make good preparations for high-level exchanges, consolidate political mutual trust and carry forward their traditional friendship. Both sides should implement the medium- and long-term program for trade and economic cooperation, advance the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, accelerate the construction and upgrading of cross-border ports, deepen cooperation in such areas as agriculture, energy and mineral resources, and foster new growth drivers in cooperation including artificial intelligence and the digital economy.

Jeenbek Kulubaev stated that Kyrgyzstan thanks China for its strong support for the country’s economic and social development and is willing to work with China to pursue high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, accelerate the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, deepen cooperation in trade, investment, finance and energy, and welcomes Chinese companies to invest and operate in Kyrgyzstan and is willing to provide a sound business environment. Kyrgyzstan looks forward to China’s continued support for its SCO presidency and for jointly hosting a successful Bishkek Summit.

Wang met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on July 24. He said that China wishes Russia success in its State Duma elections to be held in September, and firmly supports the choice independently made by the Russian people. He further noted that the current international situation is complex and turbulent. In the face of the question of the times regarding the future of the world, China and Russia have a firm and clear answer. China and Russia should strengthen strategic coordination, uphold the outcomes of World War II, and never allow Japan to rearm.

Sergey Lavrov stated that head-of-state diplomacy serves as an important driving force for Russia-China relations. President Vladimir Putin’s successful visit to China this year and the more than 50 meetings between the two heads of state have continuously elevated bilateral relations to new heights. The Russian side congratulated China on successfully hosting the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, and Russia has joined the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation and looks forward to deepening bilateral cooperation in innovation and in science and technology through this platform. Over the past 25 years since its founding, and driven by Russia and China, the SCO has developed into a regional organisation full of potential, attracting an increasing number of like-minded countries to join. Russia remains highly vigilant against and firmly opposes Japan’s accelerated remilitarisation and pursuit of nuclear weapons capability. The two sides can further strengthen strategic coordination within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, APEC, the G20, BRICS and East Asia cooperation, and jointly promote a more democratic and equitable multipolar world.

The previous evening, Wang Yi met with Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov and noted that China and Belarus are trustworthy good partners. In recent years, under the strategic planning and personal attention of President Xi Jinping and President Aleksandr Lukashenko, the China-Belarus all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership has continued to operate at a high level, with gratifying results achieved in cooperation across various fields. Not long ago, the two heads of state met again in Beijing, making new plans for the future growth of bilateral relations. [Lukashenko paid a working visit to China, June 28-29, the first stop on a regional tour that also took him to Indonesia and Myanmar.]

Wang Yi said that mutual support is an inherent feature of the China-Belarus all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership. China will, as always, support Belarus in safeguarding its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions, and opposing any external interference in Belarus’ internal affairs under any pretext. China appreciates Belarus’ longstanding and unwavering solidarity with China on issues concerning China’s core interests. China congratulates Belarus on becoming a founding member of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation.

Maxim Ryzhenkov noted that the heads of state of Belarus and China have maintained high-level and frequent communication, bringing bilateral relations to an unprecedented level and fostering ironclad brotherly mutual trust. Belarus thanks China for its long-term and strong support and assistance, and will firmly develop relations with China, advance all-round cooperation, and draw on China’s successful experience.

The same evening, Wang Yi also met with Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov and stated that the development strategies of China and Uzbekistan are complementary. As fellow travellers on the journey toward modernisation, the two countries can achieve common development and each other’s success and jointly draw up a new ‘golden decade’. China is ready to work with Uzbekistan to fully tap into and unleash cooperation potential, advance high-quality construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway and create more flagship projects in the field of new industrialisation.

Bakhtiyor Saidov noted that Uzbekistan cherishes the brotherly friendship with China, and developing relations with China is a priority in Uzbekistan’s foreign policy. He extended warm congratulations on the 105th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. The CPC set the aim of serving the people wholeheartedly at its founding and has led the Chinese people to great achievements. Uzbekistan is ready to learn from China’s experience in governance, promote alignment between its “Uzbekistan-2030” strategy and the Belt and Road Initiative, and accelerate its own development and revitalisation.

On July 24, Wang met with Tajikistan’s Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin and noted that in May this year, President Emomali Rahmon paid a successful state visit to China, during which President Xi Jinping and he made new strategic plans for the development of China-Tajikistan relations. The most important outcome of the visit was the signing of the China-Tajikistan Treaty on Permanent Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation, which set a precedent in Central Asia.

He also met on the same day with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and noted that the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf region has recently experienced renewed tensions and escalation, which is a matter of deep concern to China. The MoU signed more than a month ago was a valuable outcome of mediation efforts by multiple parties and reflected the aspirations of the Iranian people and other peoples in the region for peace and stability. The progress achieved through dialogue should not be abandoned. The door to negotiations, once opened, should not be closed, and as long as there is hope for peace, it should not be given up.

Wang added that as a comprehensive strategic partner of Iran, China firmly supports Iran in safeguarding its sovereignty, security and national dignity. China will continue to act in line with President Xi Jinping’s four-point proposal on maintaining and promoting peace and stability in the Middle East, support mediation efforts by Pakistan and other parties, facilitate the early resumption of dialogue and negotiations, properly address issues related to the Strait of Hormuz, improve relations among neighbouring countries, advance collective security among Gulf states, and help restore peace and stability in the Middle East at an early date.

Seyed Abbas Araghchi briefed Wang Yi on the latest developments in the Middle East and the Gulf region, stating that the United States’ violation of the MoU reached by both parties has led to heightened tensions. Iran’s willingness to negotiate remains unchanged and Iran does not wish to see the conflict continue. It is crucial for Iran and China, as comprehensive strategic partners, to strengthen communication and coordination at the current critical moment. Iran thanks China for consistently maintaining an objective and impartial position, promoting peace and urging an end to hostilities, and expresses hope that China will continue to play an important role in helping ease regional tensions.

Wang Yi also met on July 24 with Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, telling him that China highly appreciates Pakistan’s key role in facilitating the memorandum of understanding reached between the United States and Iran. China will continue to firmly support Pakistan in its efforts to mediate, promote the return of all parties to dialogue and negotiations, and achieve a lasting ceasefire. China is ready to strengthen coordination with Pakistan in multilateral platforms such as the SCO and the United Nations to safeguard the common interests of the two countries and the legitimate rights and interests of the Global South.

Dar stated that Pakistan is willing to continue its efforts in peace mediation and appreciates China’s consistent support and assistance. Pakistan is ready to strengthen coordination with China under multilateral frameworks such as the SCO and the China-Pakistan-Bangladesh trilateral cooperation and make due contributions to safeguarding regional peace, stability and development.

This was the second meeting between the two ministers in just a week. They also met on July 16 in Shanghai in the margins of the 2026 World AI Conference, where they exchanged views on the situation in Iran and coordinated their positions.

The two sides expressed concern over the deteriorating situation and called on the parties concerned to immediately cease hostilities, overcome difficulties, remove disruptions, restart contacts, resume dialogue, and strive to reach a comprehensive peace agreement through negotiations. The international community should also continue to provide support to this end.

Wang Yi stressed that the first-phase memorandum of understanding reached between the US and Iran is hard-won. All parties should honour their commitments and abide by the provisions of the memorandum. China will, as always, support Pakistan’s mediation efforts and continue to play a constructive role in its own way in promoting the de-escalation of the situation.

Mohammad Ishaq Dar briefed Wang Yi on Pakistan’s recent efforts, thanked China for its understanding and support, and said that Pakistan will rise to the challenges and continue to actively promote peace and facilitate talks.

Is China still socialist?

On 23 July 2026, Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez spoke to the Croydon Morning Star Readers and Supporters Group at Ruskin House on the question of whether China is still socialist. Below we reprint the Croydon Communists’ report of the meeting, followed by a video Carlos recorded on the basis of his notes for the talk.

This report was originally published by Croydon Communists on 24 July.

The Croydon Morning Star Readers and Supporters Group were privileged to hear Carlos Martinez last night (23 July) give a masterclass on Chinese Socialism.

For those of us who looked to the former USSR to help build socialism globally only for our hopes to be dashed on the collapse following Gorbachev’s rash and badly implemented Glasnost and Perestroika, the strategy adopted by the Communist Party of China (CPC) can seem over-cautious. As Carlos described, it is slowly and systematically building socialism with Chinese Characteristics, testing policies and rejecting those that do not work. As a result, there have been huge economic advances unmatched anywhere in the developing world. The state continues to serve the interests of the working class and its allies, defending it from the inevitable attacks from capital and slowly and systematically building a better life for its people. Through more than four decades of reform and opening up, the CPC retains its commitment to Marxism. There has been no capitulation to capitalism; and socialists and communists should unequivocally support and defend Chinese socialism. The achievements to date have been huge and there will be more to come. The state of “market socialism” currently arrived at is not the end of the trajectory. Communism, as envisaged by Karl Marx in Capital, is still on the agenda.

Carlos Martinez’s book The East is Still Red – Chinese Communism in the 21st Century (Praxis Press, 2023, £20 – order it from your local bookshop) sets out in much more detail these arguments and the evidence on which they are based. Highly recommended!

To receive advance notice of future public meetings at Ruskin House organised by the Croydon Morning Star Readers and Supporters Group, register your interest at croydonmorningstarrsg@gmail.com.

Should China “lessen the role of the state”?

In the latest of the Financial Times’ periodic lectures to Beijing on how to run its economy, the Brookings Institution’s Eswar Prasad urges China to reduce its reliance on public investment, move away from manufacturing and – above all – “lessen the role of the state”. In the following article, Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez takes the prescriptions in turn.

He finds them to be not a serious diagnosis but an invitation to dismantle the socialist foundations of the most successful economic development in human history, in favour of a model that is visibly failing the countries that practise it.

Every so often the Financial Times publishes its periodic instruction to China on how to run its economy. The latest comes from Eswar Prasad of the Brookings Institution, and it follows the established template: concede the achievements in a subordinate clause, then explain that catastrophe looms unless Beijing adopts the policy mix of the countries currently growing at a third of its rate.

China, we learn, is “in serious trouble” – while growing at about 4.3 percent, a figure no G7 economy has come close to in years, and roughly double the US rate. Inflation has turned positive after a deflationary spell; industrial profits are rebounding. In any other country this would be reported as a soft landing. For China it is presented as calm concealing catastrophe.

Let us take the prescriptions in turn.

First, China must “reduce reliance on public investment and exports”.

But since around 78 percent of China’s growth derives from capital inputs, cutting investment means cutting growth. This is simply the United States inviting China to engage in economic self-harm. Public investment is the key mechanism through which China has built its infrastructure, energy, transport and industrial base. It is also the mechanism through which it has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty. And it is the mechanism through which it has built a high-tech economy that now competes with, and even out strips, the West across the board.

As the Marxist economist Michael Roberts has repeatedly shown, it is high levels of productive investment, not the debt-fuelled consumption favoured in the West, that drive sustained growth and rising living standards over time – exactly the relationship mainstream commentary is determined to invert.

On exports, trade accounted for about 20 percent of China’s growth in 2025; the rest came from domestic consumption and investment. Household consumption, meanwhile, grew at 4.4 percent, in line with GDP. The claim that China free-rides on foreign demand is simply not what the data shows.

China’s open-weight AI exposes the fiction behind Wall Street’s boom

The following article by Gary Wilson, an editor of the US socialist newspaper Struggle – La Lucha, offers a sharp Marxist reading of the summer’s turmoil in AI stocks – and of why the release of powerful open-weight models by Chinese firms has sent such a shock through Wall Street.

In July, the arrival of Moonshot AI’s Kimi K3 and DeepSeek’s V4 – open-weight models matching the strongest systems from Anthropic, OpenAI and Google – triggered the worst week for US chip stocks in over a year and briefly cost Nvidia its crown as the world’s most valuable company. Wilson argues that the panic exposed the hollowness of the whole AI boom, which rests not on profits already earned but on the promise that a handful of US corporations will exercise a monopoly over the technology and charge the world a toll for every use.

Drawing on Marx’s concept of fictitious capital, he shows how a thin layer of real income has been made to support a towering mass of debt and inflated valuations – with AI-linked firms now accounting for around 40 percent of the value of the S&P 500. Open-weight models threaten to make the assumed monopoly impossible, which is why Washington is turning from market competition to coercion, deploying export controls and national-security pretexts to defend a monopoly that competition has in reality already broken.

Against this, the article counterposes the vision set out by Xi Jinping in Shanghai – of AI developed openly as a shared asset of humanity – and the material foundation, created by the 1949 Revolution, that allows China to direct investment towards public use rather than private rent.

Las reformas económicas de Cuba y las perspectivas de la renovación socialista

We are pleased to republish below the Spanish translation, by the progressive Chilean journal El Ciudadano, of Carlos Martinez’s recent article, Cuba’s economic reforms and the prospects for socialist renewal.

El siguiente artículo analiza las transformaciones más profundas del modelo económico cubano en más de seis décadas: un programa compuesto por 23 ejes estratégicos y 176 medidas, aprobado por unanimidad este mes por la Asamblea Nacional.

Buena parte de la prensa occidental, así como un sector importante de la izquierda en Occidente, se ha apresurado a presentar estas reformas como el momento en que el bloqueo finalmente consiguió quebrar a la Revolución. Carlos sostiene exactamente lo contrario. A su juicio, las reformas deben entenderse como una estrategia de defensa del socialismo bajo condiciones de asedio, inspirada en la lógica que ha guiado a China desde 1978: el empleo regulado de los mecanismos de mercado y de la inversión extranjera para desarrollar las fuerzas productivas, mientras el Partido Comunista conserva el poder político y la propiedad pública de los sectores estratégicos de la economía. Como señala el especialista en Cuba Isaac Saney, estas medidas, «lejos de representar un retroceso», constituyen «un esfuerzo estratégico por preservar y profundizar las conquistas sociales de la Revolución».

El artículo sitúa las reformas en el contexto de un cerco sin precedentes impuesto por Estados Unidos: 64 años de bloqueo, recrudecido bajo Trump y Rubio, con el suministro de combustible prácticamente estrangulado y apagones de hasta veinte horas diarias. Asimismo, recorre las dos últimas décadas de reformas graduales emprendidas por Cuba, desde los Lineamientos impulsados por Raúl Castro hasta la Zona Especial de Desarrollo Mariel, concebida deliberadamente siguiendo las experiencias de China y Vietnam. La cuestión decisiva, sostiene Carlos, es la misma que distinguió las reformas de Beijing de la perestroika de Gorbachov: ¿quién conserva el poder político? Cuba, argumenta, está recorriendo la senda de la reforma y apertura china, no la vía soviética de la perestroika; y la solidaridad de China —expresada en la cooperación energética, alimentaria y en las relaciones entre ambos partidos comunistas— puede resultar determinante.

En palabras del presidente Miguel Díaz-Canel: «No hay soberanía con un plato vacío». Y también: «No nos vamos a reunir solamente para resistir. Nos vamos a reunir para crear. Para producir. Para decidir. Para controlar. Para prosperar y para transformar».

Chinese People’s Volunteers remembered

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) marked the 73rd anniversary of victory in the Fatherland Liberation War on July 27, the day in 1953 when US imperialism was forced to sign the armistice agreement after three years of genocidal war, with a wide range of celebrations and commemorative events.

Among them, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reports that, on July 26, DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un visited the Cemetery of the Fallen Soldiers of the Chinese People’s Volunteers in Hoechang County of South Phyongan Province and paid high tribute to them.

Following the main commemoration, he visited the grave of Mao Anying, placed a flower there and paid homage. Mao Anying was the son of Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

KCNA commented that: “The ennobling soul and self-sacrificing spirit of the brave CPV soldiers, who shed their blood to assist the DPRK people in the war of justice in the most difficult and fateful years, are clearly associated with the victory won by the DPRK people and they are shining as the foundation for the DPRK-China friendship with socialism as its core.

“The DPRK people will never forget the merits and heroic feats of the excellent sons and daughters of the Chinese people who unsparingly dedicated their hot blood and precious lives, fighting shoulder to shoulder with our army and people in the same trench of the unprecedented death-defying struggle for repelling the imperialists’ invasion.”

The following day, Kim Jong Un attended an art performance to mark the anniversary together with war veterans and persons of wartime merits, members of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee and other senior officials of the Party, government and armed forces organs, officials of the WPK Central Committee, leading officials of ministries and national agencies, service personnel of the People’s Army, officials and lecturers engaged in the administration of revolutionary relics associated with the victorious war, Pyongyang citizens including descendants of war heroes, students of revolutionary schools and other youth and students, as well as diplomats from the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation.

KCNA reported that: “The audience were deeply touched by videos showing the matchless self-sacrificing spirit, heroism and brilliant feats of excellent sons and daughters of the Chinese people who shared life and death, fighting shoulder to shoulder with our people in the same trench of the struggle of repelling the invasion of the imperialists, and Chinese songs such as ‘Battle Song of Chinese People’s Volunteers’.

“The performers artistically and superbly depicted the DPRK people’s eternal thanks to the brave fighters of the Chinese People’s Volunteers, who assisted our people in their sacred and righteous war under the uplifted banner of resisting America and aiding Korea even in the difficult days of building the country and made an important contribution to the war victory and the defence of global peace and security, and the truth that the DPRK-China friendship based on the shared ideal and militant fraternity will be immortal along with the history of the great war victory.”